Titans Grind Out Win Over Eagles

Ava Douglas paced a balanced UW-Oshkosh offense with 13 points, Nikki Arneson and Leah Porath added 12 apiece, and the nationally ranked Titans grinded out a 55-49 women's basketball victory over UW-La Crosse on Saturday (Dec. 4) in Kolf Sports Center.

Defending Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion UW-Oshkosh (7-2, 1-1 WIAC), ranked 20th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, took the lead for good at 36-35 with 1:24 left in the third quarter. The Titans, who never trailed by more than two points the entire game, built their largest lead at 48-41 following Porath's three-point play with 3:02 remaining.

UW-La Crosse (6-4, 0-2 WIAC) pulled within 48-45 at the 1:23 mark, but Douglas went 3-for-4 at the free throw line during the ensuing 20 seconds and UW-Oshkosh maintained a lead of at least four points for the final 74 seconds in a matchup of the top two scoring defenses in the conference.

UW-Oshkosh, which extended its home winning streak to 10 games, has won three straight meetings with UW-La Crosse and seven of the last eight in the series. The Titans, who held their sixth opponent to under 50 points this season, entered the day leading the WIAC by allowing 48.4 points per contest while UW-La Crosse was second at 49.3.

Douglas shot 3-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range, to surpass her previous career high of 10 points established on two occasions this year. Douglas also recorded a pair of steals in 28 minutes off the Titans bench.

Porath, a 2021 D3hoops.com First Team All-American and two-time WIAC Player of the Year, scored in double figures for the 51st time in UW-Oshkosh's last 54 games. Arneson drained a pair of 3-pointers on seven attempts after heading into the day ranked fourth in the country with a .556 3-point percentage.

Kayce Vaile and Julia Silloway both added six points and seven rebounds for the Titans, who also received seven boards from Abby Kaiser and three assists from Kennedy Osterman.

UW-Oshkosh went 18 of 50 (.360) from the floor, 5-for-22 (.227) from beyond the 3-point arc and 14 of 26 (.538) at the free throw line. The Titans owned advantages of 36-35 in rebounds, 6-11 in turnovers and 5-1 in steals. UW-Oshkosh, which entered the day ranked eighth in the nation with a 1.20 assist-to-turnover ratio, committed its fewest turnovers since having just five at UW-River Falls on Jan. 18, 2020.

UW-La Crosse shot 35.3% (18-51) from the field, 30.8% (4-13) from 3-point range and 60% (9-15) at the foul line while holding edges of 10-8 in assists and 5-3 in blocks. The Eagles' one steal was a season low after averaging 9.3 during their first nine contests.

Carly Coulthart buried three 3-pointers and finished with a game high 15 points for the Eagles.

UW-La Crosse had three double digit scorers of its own as Lexie Higgins produced 13 points and 10 rebounds while Lauryn Milne chipped in 11 points off the Eagles bench.

Neither team led by more than four points the entire first half. UW-Oshkosh went 5-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc on the way to holding a 20-18 lead after the first quarter. UW-La Crosse later took its first lead since the 6:43 mark of the opening period when Coulthart made a pair of free throws for a 29-28 edge just before intermission.

The Titans and Eagles exchanged the lead three times over the first five minutes of the third period until UW-Oshkosh reclaimed a 36-35 advantage it would not relinquish on a Silloway layup with 84 seconds left in the quarter.

UW-La Crosse had the ball with a chance to tie just once in the fourth quarter. Trailing 42-39 with under six minutes to play, Coulthart misfired on a potential tying 3-pointer before Kaiser scored in the paint to up the Titan lead to 44-39 at the 5:09 mark. The Eagles once again pulled within three points at 48-45 with 1:23 left. However, Douglas set a career high with her 11th point on a free throw with 1:14 to go, and UW-Oshkosh led by at least four points the rest of the way.

UW-Oshkosh is off until hosting Ripon College for a nonconference game Dec. 20 in Kolf Sports Center.

Photo by Steve Fromell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics